


Dare to Believe in Steven

by CooperK



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Dialogue Heavy, dialogue focused
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:34:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27903052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CooperK/pseuds/CooperK
Summary: The tyrannical Megatron has set his sights on an unrivaled power that could bring the Decepticons to victory. That power is in the form of a young teen having a personal journey, alone on the open road. Thankfully, the Crystal Gems and some unexpected allies are ready to spring into action.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	1. The Best Liars Tell the Truth

**Author's Note:**

> The Transformers part of this crossover is sort of my own home brew, and not part of any particular continuity. Unrelated to the SU/TF oneshots I did awhile back.

When negotiating with potential non-cybertronian allies, it’s important to look your best. Megatron’s fusion cannon was removed from his right arm. His dented and scratched body was buffered and cleaned. Despite the necessity of this meeting, Megatron always hated that he needed to do this. Why should the leader of the Decepticons remove his battle scars for the comfort of such lower lifeforms? He hoped the day that he no longer needed the aid of organic and more primitive robotic lifeforms was coming soon. That will be the day that the galaxy sees the full wrath of a Decepticon ruled Cybertron. 

“Lord Megatron, we are receiving a transmission from the planet designated as Homeworld.” Soundwave said, his electric and monotone voice echoing across the bridge of the Nemesis. The warship was currently adrift in the vast darkness of space, somewhere near earth’s solar system.

“Right on schedule. Patch it through, Soundwave.” Megatron ordered, turning towards the front window of the bridge. The view of stars and nebulas was quickly replaced by a video feed of a yellow tinted humanoid. She looked stern, arms crossed and stone faced, “Am I correct in saying that I’m talking with Yellow Diamond?” He asked.

“You are indeed correct. If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to skip the formalities and get straight to business.” She said, blunt and to-the-point.

Megatron gave a smile that was actually half genuine. He always hated the pointless compliments he had to give before these negotiations, especially to such pathetic creatures like these gems. “You’re a woman after my own spark, Yellow. I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. It’s come to my attention that certain gem colonies are holding Autobot aligned refugees.”

Yellow nodded. “The Autobots and I came to an agreement to hold alien refugees on a few gem inhabited worlds. Apparently, you two have a bit of a spat going on?” 

Megatron sighed with grief, which was far from being genuine, “That’s sadly an understatement. If you would indulge me, I’d like to share my side of things. After all, it’s only fair you hear the full history of our proud race from an… unbiased source.”

Yellow Diamond leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs as she said, “I suppose you’re right. I’ll hear what you have to say.” 

Megatron started to pace back and forth as he began, “Millions of years ago, Cybertron was filled with corruption. A despicable caste system was put in place. As you are aware, cybertronians all have the unique ability of transformation. Because of the caste system, better known as functionism, our spectacular gift was turned into a curse for many. Hulking tanks forced into mining operations, bots elevated to lofty science positions simply because they transformed into microscopes, it was the definition of unjust.” He stopped for a moment and looked towards Yellow Diamond with a hint of feigned sadness in his optics. “I… I don’t wish to detail the more grim parts of my history any more than I need to.”

If the former ruler of Homeworld felt compassion for Megatron and his past plight, she didn’t show it. Yellow sat stone-faced and calm as Megatron took the hint and continued.

“It wasn’t long until this society bred rebellion and insurrectionists, myself being chief among them. I rallied the citizens of Cybertron behind my banner.” He said, tapping the Decepticon symbol on his chest plate. “I showed them how we were all deceived into thinking that functionism was the only way forward for our race. With their aid, along with a few bots on the inside, we were able to overthrow the old regime with cunning and force.” A smile crept on Megatron’s face for a moment, wicked and nostalgic. “For over a hundred thousand years, I ruled firmly but fairly. New colonies were founded, weapon technologies were advancing, cybertronians of all shapes and sizes were carving out their own destinies! It’d be no exaggeration to call it a new golden age.” Megatron altered his tone of voice to be grimmer and sullen. “But there were those who didn’t see it that way. I will admit that some of my colleagues abused their power, but they did what they thought was best for the whole of Cybertron. Before we could even respond to the public’s outcries, riots began across the planet! This insurrectionist group, you know them as the Autobots, grew exponentially into a full army.” The Decepticon leader stopped pacing for a moment and looked off into the dark void of space. “I tried to end this war so many times. Each and every one of my requests for peace was completely shot down by their leader, Optimus Prime. I tried to speak reason into him, but he just called me a monster. It’s because of his war that our home is a barren wasteland of rust and bodies.” Megatron turned once more to Yellow, a fire burning in his optics as he went in for the kill. “Yellow Diamond, I urge you to reconsider your allegiance with the autobot resistance. If you don’t… I’m afraid that things will quickly escalate on these gem colonies.”

It was quiet on the bridge of the Nemesis as Megatron waited for Yellow’s answer. For the first time since he began his negotiation with the Diamond, her statue like face changed. She flashed a small grin as she uncrossed her legs and spoke, “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

The decepticon leader was caught off guard, expecting Yellow to be hesitant but willing to cooperate. “What exactly are you implying, Yellow?”

“Since you’re done with your little pitch, I’d like to tell you what the autobots told me.” With the press of a button on the arm rest of her chair, a holographic screen appeared at her side as she continued, “Everything you said about your Decepticon uprising going against your world’s government is admittedly true. Using functionism to guilt trip me for my old beliefs was clever, by the way.” She turned her gaze towards the screen and began to read. 

Megatron was almost stunned with surprise at Yellow calling his play. He had to act fast and roll back what he said. “I can assure you that I meant no- “ 

“Let me finish, oh mighty Megatron.” Yellow interrupted, a bit of amusement and teasing in her voice. “It’s funny how you skipped over a significant chunk of time between your rule as Cybertron’s leader and the autobot resistance. Let’s see what happened during that time… Giving the police force government grade equipment, colonizing inhabited worlds with sentient life, weapons research and military spending increased by one thousand percent, Decepticon senators suspected of assassinating their political rivals, and several instances of violent retaliation towards peaceful protests.” She looked back to Megatron, a smug and defiant grin across her face. “Firmly but fairly, right?” 

Once Megatron realized that there was no convincing Yellow Diamond of aiding the decepticons, any façade of civility and understanding vanished from his face. Yellow’s smile shrunk for a moment, but she tried to hide her sudden uneasiness. It wasn’t the cold scowl with piercing red eyes that unnerved her, but the fact that this fierce expression looked hauntingly natural on this mechanical being’s face. For the first time since the start of this charade of a negotiation, Yellow felt like she was talking with the real Megatron.

“I will warn you just this once, Yellow Diamond.” He said, his calm yet fiery tone also sounding disturbingly more natural than when he was telling his tale. “Sentient beings that defy my will… do not have long lifespans.”  
Yellow put her smirk away as she began her true negotiation with Megatron, “Humor me for a moment. When your decepticons critiqued Cybertron’s government and worked towards changing it, it was heroic and noble. But when did the autobots did the same to your government, you branded them as traitors and decided to start a petty war?”

“This is a necessary war. The decepticons will return Cybertron to it’s former glory and bring this galaxy to order!”

“With anyone objecting to your rule sent to death row, and the fearful loyalists under your metal bootheel! How is this any better than Cybertron’s old society?!”  
Megatron seemed amused by this question, giving a raspy laugh as he continued, “So many before you have asked that question. My answer to it has always been the same. While funcionism was a pitiful virus that needed to be exterminated, I somewhat admired the old guard’s way of enforcing it. If there was one thing we agreed on, it is that true peace can only be achieved through tyranny.”

Yellow Diamond had a brief look of disgust on her face before taking a deep breath. After calming down, she continued with a touch of sympathy in her voice, “Megatron, I want you to know that it’s never too late to make things right. I’ve done countless unspeakable things to my own kind, but I’m putting in the work to fix things. The awful experiments I’ve done, the gems I’ve shattered, I’ve made it my mission to heal and repair them. That can be your mission too.” Yellow stood up from her chair. “You really want Cybertron to be some crowning jewel of the galaxy, you have one shot; End this pointless conflict and work with the autobots to rebuild your home.” She meant every word of it. If Yellow could turn away from her oppressive regime, even after centuries of planetary destruction, she knew anyone could. But only if they genuinely want to change.

There was a brief pause before Megatron, bored of this conversation, responded. “Goodbye, Yellow Diamond. I look forward to meeting you in person.” The chrome tyrant didn’t need to order Soundwave to stop the transmission, his point was already made clear. As soon as the video screen turned off, the navy blue decepticon marched towards his leader and awaited his orders, “Soundwave, I want you to contact general Strika. Tell her to rally her Decepticon troops and vehicon drones for the conquering of Homeworld. While she’s laying siege there, I want Skyquake and Dreadwing’s battalions to invade all other gem colonies.” 

“Typical Megatron.” A gratingly slimy voice filled the bridge, its familiarity making Megatron clench his teeth. The infamous red, blue, and grey decepticon air commander had entered the room. “When his grand design encounters a roadblock, he thinks throwing warriors at it is the best tactic.”

“My patience is particularly thin at the moment, Starscream.” Megatron snarled, making his annoyance known to all around him. “So, unless you wish to see how long you can function without your spark, return to your duties on earth.”

Starscream rolled his optics. On any other day that threat might’ve worked, but not today. “As your second in command, I have every right to give my opinion on any military operation you plan on executing.”

Megatron groaned, “Very well, Starscream, humor me on what our next course of action should be.”

He gave a sly grin as he began, “Thank you, lord Megatron. Our energy resources are stretched thin across the galaxy. As more decepticons wage war and sow destruction, our army and stockpile of energon shrinks. Even if your frivolous assault on the gems were to succeed, we wouldn’t have the means of defending and holding their worlds. It pains me to admit this, but the autobots are simply more successful at preserving their energon and their men.”

“By the Allspark, not this excuse for your countless retreats again! You know my recruitment campaigns on the neutral worlds are stronger than ever, and that my scientists are already working on developing energon substitutes. What miraculous solution do you have that can instantly solve these problems?”

“I’m so glad you asked, my lord! Allow me to introduce you to…” the amber glass cockpit on Starscream’s chest opened up. Standing inside was a small red and blue humanoid with two gemstones on the left side of their face. “Bluebird Azurite.”

The small gem sprouted wings on their back and flew in between Megatron and Starscream. “If it isn’t the once and future king of all Cybertron! Bluebird is at our beck and call, my liege.” They exclaimed, bowing their head as Megatron shot daggers at his second in command.

“You brought and inferior lifeform onto my ship without my approval?!” Megatron barked. Soundwave was quick to act, raising his blaster at a nonplused fusion.

“Oh relax, you chrome plated blow hard. You’re gonna love what gem secrets I got in my noggin.” The Decepticon leader’s furious gaze was turned towards the obstinate Bluebird. They continued, seemingly not threatened by Soundwave’s weapon, “What if I told you about an incredible power that could heal wounds in seconds? What would you say if this power could even bring back some of your deceased mates?”

Megatron’s anger morphed into morbid curiosity. He placed a hand on Soundwave’s blaster and lowered it, “Tell me more about this power. I suspect that it is under heavy guard?”

The impish fusion gave a haughty laugh, “That’s the best part, Megatron. This war winning jackpot is all wrapped up in a squishy and pathetic human who’d just DIE to help the Decepticon cause.”

The tyrant couldn’t help but chuckle. Similar to Starscream, he didn’t know how much of this bluster was true. But they did have a sense of cunning and showmanship. This creature could be entertaining, for the time being. He leaned forward towards the flying gem and spoke, “You have my attention, Bluebird. Who is this human?”


	2. Come Fly with Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An average tourist day in Michigan goes downhill fast as Steven becomes the center of cybertronian attention.

“Steven Universe?” A woman called from behind a counter. A young teen with curly hair and a pink jacket got up from the booth he was sitting in and walked up to the counter. The waitress picked up a brown bag and said, “He’s your veggie burger with a side of fries. Thank you for coming to Coney Isles!” 

“Thank, I really needed this.” Steven said as he paid for his to-go lunch and walked off with the bag in hand. He was currently four months into his self-discovery road trip across the country. His journey brought him to places big and small, but he was currently in the southern part of Michigan. The state was famous for its fantastical air shows and plane factories. Steven was hoping to see one of those airshows before he leaves. As he left the quaint diner and headed towards his car, he noticed a man and a woman he didn’t recognize looking over the dondai. The woman had pale skin and black hair with red highlights. She was wearing a cherry red button up, black work pants, and her right ear had a wireless earbud that was the same shade of red as her shirt. The man was tanner and had a dark brown buzz cut. He had a dark blue aviator jacket and torn up denim jeans. He also seemed particularly less interested in Steven’s car than his companion. As Steven approached, the woman in red noticed and waved him over. 

“Excuse me, is this your car?” She asked politely. 

Steven was a bit confused as to why two strangers would be interested in his car as he answered, “Uh… Yeah. Do you like it?” 

“This is a dondai supremo,” She said as she walked around his car with an admiring eye. “It’s simplistic outer look hides a powerful engine and excellent handling. You must have a good eye for high quality vehicles.” 

“Thanks, but it’s actually a gift from my dad. I couldn’t even tell you the difference between- “ 

“Can we get this over with already?” The man asked bluntly, boredom and impatience in his voice. The woman shot a glare at him before continuing. 

“You’ll have to forgive Derek, he’s not a fan of small talk. I’m Sheila, By the way.” 

“I’m Steven!” The teen extended his free hand and Sheila firmly shook it. Her hand felt cold and oddly familiar to him, but he decided not to pry, “It’s nice to meet you.” 

“And it’s a pleasure to meet you, Steven,” Sheila said with a smile. “Are you heading towards the air show as well?” 

“Yeah, I’m just gonna have some lunch first before I go.” 

“My friend and I are actually planning on taking a short cut there. After you finish your meal, we’d be happy to let you follow us through it.” 

“I appreciate it, but I’d rather take the scenic route. See all the sights, you know?” As he walked towards the driver side of his car, Sheila placed a firm hand on his shoulder. Steven looked at her and noticed she seemed a bit flustered under her cool demeanor. 

“You’d be surprised how rough the traffic gets around here. You certainly don’t want to be late for such a spectacular presentation.” 

Steven was starting to feel a little unnerved as he fished for his keys in his pants, “I… I think I got plenty of time to spare. How’s about we meet up when I get ther- “ 

“To the pit with this,” Derek said gruffly as he walked up behind Steven and forcibly grabbed the back of his neck. Steven dropped both his keys and his bagged lunch as he felt a thousand volts of electricity run through his entire body. He didn’t even have a chance to scream in pain as his body went numb and he fell to the ground. Before he could slip into unconsciousness, he heard Derek speaking. “No time to argue, Shatter. Just help me load him up so we can get a break from this mudball of a planet.” 

When Steven began to wake up, it was dark and cramped. He had no idea where he was, but he knew that he didn’t wake up in his car. Still groggy and confused, Steven overheard a muffled conversation from outside of his current whereabouts. It sounded like Sheila and Derek. 

“We’re lucky that no one from that human restaurant saw us, Dropkick.” 

“He wasn’t taking the bait. Besides, my way was much faster.” 

“We’ll talk more about this later, comrade. Let’s just wait on Starscream and return to the Cowardice with our prize.” 

“I still don’t get why we can’t just fly to his warship right now. I’m no military genius, but we risk autobots finding us the longer we’re here.” 

“And here I thought you liked adding pointless slaughter to stealth missions! We have our orders; Wait here until further notice. Just make sure the asset doesn’t pop out the trunk.” 

He was being kidnapped. Steven was in the trunk of a car and was being kidnapped. The realization made him snap to attention, his eyes growing wide and panic. Without even thinking, Steven activated his bubble and the trunk door flew open. While he clumsily rolled out into what looked like a forest, he could’ve sworn he herd Derek yelp in surprise and pain. Once he came to a full stop, he took a quick look at his surroundings. He was indeed deep into a pinewood forest that he didn’t recognize. On his twelve and six o’clock were two muscle cars, one red and the other blue. It was safe to assume that these belonged to his abductors. 

“I’m not going anywhere with you guys! Why are you doing this?!” Steven demanded, looking around to find the two. To his confusion, he couldn’t spot them anywhere around here. 

“Don’t try to resist, Steven.” The sound of Sheila’s voice came from the red car, its engine giving a thunderous revving sound as it drove its way towards Derek’s car, “Someone outside of this solar system wants to see you immediately, and I plan on taking you there in one piece.” 

The young teen squinted his eyes in befuddlement, his pink bubble disappearing for a moment. A realization dawned on him. He gave am annoyed groan as he rubbed his temples and said, “I don’t know what era two obsessed gem put you guys up to this or what she’s promising you, but I can guarantee you that they don’t know enough about human stuff to really back up their promises. Just step out of the cars so we can talk this out, okay?” 

“I’m afraid that’s not… possible for us.” 

“Really, and why’s that?” 

As if a switch had been thrown, the two cars began to miraculously change shape. Plates of metal, along with countless pistons and gears, shifted around and altered in appearance. Steven’s bewilderment became quiet awe as the two cars eventually transformed into humanoid shapes. Standing before him was a duo of massive robots. When the vehicles finished altering into the imposing mechanoids, something about them alarmed Steven; Their posture and facial features had an uncanny similarity to their respective owners. That alarmed feeling only escalated when the blue one spoke with Derek’s voice, “Before you ask, those flesh bags you saw before were our hard light holograms. I’m Dropkick, by the way, and this crimson killjoy is Shatter.” 

Steven Universe had seen a lot of strange and bizarre things in his life. From living watermelons in his image to a haunted lighthouse. Sentient robots that could transform into vehicles wasn’t the weirdest thing to happen to him, but it was certainly in the top five. “I don’t… What are you?” He asked in frightened wonderment. 

“What we are isn’t important,” Shatter said with a smooth and cold confidence. “All you need to know is that our leader wants you. I’m almost certain he will answer any questions you have, just sit there and wait like a good little organic.” 

The frightened boy took a few tentative steps back as he summoned his shield, “Please, I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“Shatter feels the same about you,” Dropkick said, punching his right fist into his left palm and stepping towards Steven. “But she won’t complain if I pummel you in self-defense. Go on, show me some of that gem magic I’ve heard so much about.” 

“Oh, that’s the last thing you cons wanna do,” The three turned their heads towards an unfamiliar fourth voice to find a third robot. He had a white paintjob with red and blue stripes on his chest. He had a blue visor covering his eyes that reminded Steven of Buck’s shades. He was casually leaning against an oak tree with his arms crossed. What surprised Steven and his captors the most was that they didn’t hear any footsteps, driving, or transforming to indicate he had arrived, “I’ve seen that kid fight before. Once he gets going, you’ll both look like insecticons turned inside out.” 

While Steven was still perplexed by the new arrival, Shatter and Dropkick wasted no time in readying for a potential battle. They shape shifted their right hands into guns and took aim. “Don’t come any closer, Jazz! We just need to bring the organic back alive. I have no qualms of killing an autobot today,”  
Shatter threatened. 

Jazz put his hands high in the air as he said, “Woah woah woah, easy there! I like the kid, but I’m not looking to get my brain module blown out of my head.” 

“Throw out your weapon.” 

“You’re the boss bot,” The cool-headed mechanical being pulled out a blaster that was holstered on his back and tossed it forward. When it hit the ground, the hard thud almost made Steven lose his footing. Jazz took a few steps towards the three of them, “Can you guys return the favor and put away those- “ 

Shatter fired a warning shot at Jazz’s feet and stopped him in his tracks and said, “I know that you’re special forces, Jazz. Stay right there toss over any gadgets you might have.” 

Jazz complied with a smirk and began throwing multiple devices into a pile with his gun. He rattled off their respective names as he threw them, “I’ve got Stasis cuffs, some flash bangs, a silencer, repair patches… Quick question, do body mods count as gadgets?” Two large speakers popped out from the back of his shoulders and began blaring extremely loud rock and roll. Steven, Dropkick and Shatter winced and covered their ears and audio receptors. Before they could adjust to such forceful music, Jazz yelled over the sound, “I almost forgot, I got EMP grenades too!” He threw what looked like a thick black coin with a blue light in its center at the two other robots. Resembling the pulse of Pearl’s old robonoid disruptor, a burst of neon electricity came from the device. Shatter and Dropkick screamed in pain and almost immediately fell onto their backs, the quaking thud causing Steven to fall as well. The shock from Jazz’s grenade was surprisingly not as bad as when Dropkick’s jolt to his neck, this was more like the feeling of a joy buzzer all over his body. He recovered at a remarkably fast pace as he sat up and saw Jazz approach. He kneeled down and extended a hand with a warm smile, “Need a hand getting up?” 

Steven paused for a moment, looking back at the seemingly unconscious Shatter and Dropkick, before getting up and speaking to his rescuer. “No, I think I’m alright. Can you please explain why giant robots are fighting over me?!” 

“That’s a whole different story, kid. All you need to know for now is that the autobots aren’t the ones knocking you out in a Coney Isles parking lot.” Jazz tapped the red insignia on his chest for enfaces. He reached out with an open hand and said, “Come on, lets ditch this place before strawberry and blueberry over there wake up.” 

Steven looked at the robot’s hand with a bit of worry but took a few steps forward before a new sound gave him pause. The sound of an airplane could be heard flying overhead, “First I nearly get kidnapped by alien robots, now I’m missing the airshow. Michigan is not leaving a good impression so far.” Steven groaned in annoyance. 

Jazz suddenly looked concerned for a moment before dashing towards his pile of discarded weapons and picked up his gun, “I don’t think that plane’s local, kid. Go hide and don’t make a sound, I can handle this.” He said and pointed towards the bushes. Realizing what he meant, Steven quickly did as he was told and hid in the shrubbery. There was a moment of quiet as Jazz and Steven waited for the aerial assailant to arrive. Blaster in hand, Jazz prepared for the worst. Steven could hear a distant sound that was similar to when Shatter and Dropkick transformed from above. Without warning, a massive robot made an impactful landing just a few meters away from Jazz. As the dust settled and the winged mechanoid with red and blue trimming stood up to his full height, Steven couldn’t help but stare slack jawed from his hiding place. While the three previous robots he met were huge, this one was colossal in comparison. Jazz took aim and gave a sly grin as he said, “Well, dip my T-cog in electrum and call me Amalgamous Prime! It’s been too long, Starscream.” 

Starscream readied the null rays attached to his shoulders and responded, “I know what you’re planning to do, so don’t even try it. What ever tricks you pulled on my two subordinates won’t work on me.” 

“You expect me to dance to the same song twice?! Now you’re just insulting me,” Jazz side stepped while keeping his gun trained on Starscream as the air commander did the same. “Surprised to see you here, honestly. Did you run out of goons to do your dirty work?” 

“Some things are just too important for foot soldiers. Besides, I had a feeling you autobots were keeping an eye on Steven Universe. That's why I observed Dropkick and Shatter from a distance, just to be sure.” 

“That’s funny, I thought decepticons didn’t care about frail organic life.” 

“Moronic gladiators calling themselves leaders don’t care for organic life. Intelligent strategists, however, know when a certain organic has the power to turn the tide of the war.” 

Jazz chuckled at that. It wouldn’t be a conversation with Starscream without self-aggrandizing and not so subtle jabs at Megatron, “Before I kick your tailpipe in, can you tell me how you found Steven in the first place? I wanna make sure he’s nice and untraceable once this is over.” 

The decepticon paused for a moment, a wicked look crossing his face, before he winked and said, “I believe the human expression is… a little birdie told me.” 

Jazz’s body was suddenly covered in a bright blue aura. Steven’s heart sank to the bottom of his gut, he recognized that aura. Soon, as if to confirm his fears, Bluebird Azurite emerged from the leaves of a tree with a blue wand in hand. She was laughing maniacally as they said, “Oh how I missed this beauty of gem engineering! Remind me to thank that Swindle fellow for selling us this, Screamer.” 

“Bluebird?!?” Steven cried out before clamping his hands over his mouth. It didn’t matter, both Starscream and Bluebird looked towards the noise with haughty looks on their faces. The gem hybrid sighed as he stepped out from the bushes. “I really don’t want to fight, but I want go with you without one,” he warned as he summoned his shield. 

“You were right, Bluebird, this fool is just like the autobot weaklings!” Starscream proclaimed as he approached Jazz, still frozen in place, and pressed the tip of his left null ray onto his head. “And just like every other autobot, I suspect you can’t bare to see anyone get hurt on your account. Just come with me to my ship and I won't kill him.” 

Steven felt a lump grow in his throat. He only met Jazz a few minutes ago, but he just saved him from an unknown enemy. The very idea being thrown into a prison cell once again absolutely sickened him, but he didn’t see any alternative. He hated to admit it, but this so called decepticon was right about him. With an anguished exhale, Steven’s shield disappeared from his forearm. 

“You’ve made a wise decision, Steven. I’ll fully admit that bringing a fractured war hero out of retirement is low for someone of my prestige,” Starscream said, delight and satisfaction dripping from his voice. “But from what my fused associate has told me about you, I’m sure you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me.”


	3. Plus One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper, doing some landscaping work near her cave, gets visitors in the form of old gem enemies and new metal acquaintances.

Jasper struck the shovel in her hands into the ground. She looked around and allowed herself to feel a small bit of pride. Ever since Steven left, she decided that her first step towards a new life would be to repair the ecosystem around her cave home. While she was willing to learn from Little Homeworld, Jasper still wasn’t sure she could actually live there. It had been a long time since she was around other gems, even longer if she didn’t count non combative situations. She had to take this one step at a time, even if the thought of going slow irritated her to no end. With all the dead stumps now replaced with young trees, she began to walk back towards the cave. Jasper was surprised to find three familiar visitors waiting at the mouth of the cave. It was Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl who all had worried looks on their faces. “What are you doing here?” She called out. 

Amethyst was the first to respond to Jasper, genuine surprise in her voice, “Oh man, Jasper! I totally forgot you still live out here.” 

“Are you the one who planted all these trees?” Pearl asked, amazed by the progress that the orange quartz had made. 

“Yeah… Yeah, I thought I should… repair the damage I’ve done here.” Jasper stumbled, avoiding eye contact with the crystal trio. She wasn’t certain that she was on good speaking terms with them, especially after everything that she’s done to them. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Garnet warmly smiling at her. 

“You’ve done great work here, Jasper.” Garnet said softly. 

Jasper wasn’t sure how to respond. On instinct, she went to yank the fusion’s arm away but stopped herself. She instead gently took the hand off of her should and said, “You still haven’t told me why you’re here.” 

Garnet’s smile disappeared as she said, “We think Steven might be in trouble.” 

“What do you mean?” Jasper was at high alert now, not bothering to hide her concern. 

“That’s the thing, we don’t know the full extent of it,” Pearl said while pulling out her phone. “I received this anonymous text an hour ago. Whoever they are, they said that Steven is in danger and that I should bring Garnet and Amethyst somewhere recluse. So, I suggested this place. I apologize if we’re intruding on your privacy, I thought you were in Little Homeworld.” 

Just as Jasper was going to dismiss the intrusion, the four gems heard a police siren. They turned to see a police car emerging from the woods. There was a strange red symbol that resembled a face on its hood. “Since when did the fuzz actually care about gem stuff?” Amethyst asked sarcastically. Shortly after the cop car came out, an enormous red tank followed. It had the same symbol on its left and right side, along with two black labels saying K4-90W and ZOW-333. 

“Is… Is that a tank?” Pearl asked genuinely and full of bewilderment as a white racing car with red and blue stripes vehicles drove up from behind the tank. The gems all had quizzical looks on their faces as the three seemingly unrelated vehicles stopped in front of them. In a matter of seconds, the group of vehicles drastically changed shape and transformed into three massive robots. The crystal gem trio had their mouths hung open in astonishment. Jasper, meanwhile, still had the same puzzled look she had before the metal giants revealed themselves. 

“No one told me that earth vehicles could turn into mech suits,” Jasper said plainly to the other gems. 

“That’s ‘cause they don’t, sis.” Amethyst said once she recovered from shock. 

The mech who was previously a police car stepped forward and said, “I told you to bring Garnet and Amethyst in the text message. Who's this orange gem?” 

“Well, uh, this is Jasper… I… I forgot that she lives here and… Do you want her to leave or…?” Pearl stammered out, still befuddled by what she was looking at. 

“If this is the same Jasper that I’m thinking of, we might need her military expertise,” He continued. “Judging by your reactions, I’m guessing that gem news doesn’t travel fast. I’ll try to keep explanations brief; My name is Prowl. The race car to my right is Jazz and the tank to my left is Warpath. We’re sentient robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. The faction that I represent, the autobots, is currently at war with the decepticons. We came to this planet for the naturally growing energon crystals located here- “ 

“Slow it down, commander! You can just say autobots good and decepticons bad and leave it at that,” Jazz said while placing a hand on his shoulder. 

While Pearl and Amethyst were somewhat relieved by Jazz slowing down the tremendous load of new info, Garnet still had a question on her mind, “That wouldn’t explain how you know who we are.” 

“Well, zowie, I can tell you that!” Warpath said with enthusiasm in his bombastic voice. “When we found earth during the 80s, we stumbled onto Beach City when we were scouting out a good location for our base of operations. Our boss bot said that we should probably keep our distance from gems, just like we do with the humans. Then one day, BLAM, the entire ocean up and disappeared. Prowl thought it was those decepticreeps he mentioned earlier, but one of our eyes in the sky said it was some blue gem flying around.” 

“After that little fiasco, we decided to keep an eye on you and your species whenever we could,” Prowl concluded. “When the diamonds created era three, we asked them if we could use their colonies as apolitical zones for alien refugees who lost their worlds to the decepticons.” 

“This is where the ‘Steven’s in trouble’ part of that text we sent you comes in,” Jazz chimed in. “Prowl had a hunch that the cons wouldn’t take this little agreement lying down. He sent me to watch over Steven just in case they got any ideas about using Steven as leverage. As it turned out, Prowl’s hunch was right. Two cons had him cornered when I stepped in. They didn’t give me much trouble, but then con number three showed up before I could get Steven to safety. I was gonna take him out when I got frozen up by some kind of stasis lock. Next thing I knew, those cons were flying off with Steven and some crazy looking red and blue gem.” 

It only took a second for the crystal gem trio to figure out who that gem was. Anger and irritation spread across their faces as Amethyst said, “Bluebird’s so gonna get her stupid smug face wrecked when we find her!” 

Jasper, not knowing or caring who Bluebird was, turned towards Prowl and asked, “So these decepticons plan on using Steven as a hostage?” 

“I initially thought of that myself,” Prowl answered. “But Jazz told me that Starscream, the aforementioned third decepticon, said that Steven has a power that could turn the tide of the war. Granted, anything a decepticon says needs to be taken with suspicion, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. We need to figure out what specific power they want from him.” 

Pearl grabbed her chin as she pondered what power the decepticons could want, “Well, Steven has a shield and protective bubble he can summon at will. He has remarkable strength and speed.” 

“The cons aren’t exactly keen on letting organics do their dirty work for them,” Warpath said. “It’s their loss if you ask me. I’ve seen plenty of them little guys put the hurt on decepticreep scum!” 

“He has the power to enter someone’s mind and even control them. They might try to force him to do espionage for them,” Garnet suggested. 

“No, there’s already a good handful of methods that they utilize. Everything from mind control to advanced reprogramming,” Prowl said. 

“It might be his healing powers,” Jasper abruptly said, all eyes turning to her as she idly rubbed her gemstone and spoke. “It doesn’t just fix wounds, it… it can bring the dead back to life.” 

A lightbulb went off in Jazz’s head as he said, “I think I know what she means, Prowl! It was in my report about that human who became some space explorer. His skin turned pink and he stopped eating.” 

Prowl’s face slowly became one of bleak realization as he recalled that specific report. “This is even worse than I could’ve imagined,” He said. 

“How can it get worse than robot bad guys bringing back robot bad guys from the grave… or junkyard… or-Wherever you guys put dead bodies?!” Amethyst questioned. 

“Remember how Prowl said we came here for something called energon?” Jazz asked, coming to the same conclusion as his commander. “That’s the little factor that makes this situation a scrapyard of trouble. Energon’s the fuel in our ships, the ammunition for most of our weapons, the blood in our veins. Heck, laws on energon reservation and distribution is half the reason why the decepticons lost their cool and went conquest crazy!” 

“If the cons can bring back every other offline soldier and make them not need energon at all… Bang, there goes the galaxy.” Warpath grimly concluded. 

“There’s no time to lose, we should head towards the nearest autobot outpost and come up with a plan,” Prowl said as he transformed back into a police car. Warpath and Jazz began to transform as Prowl opened his passenger door and said, “I’m aware that your war fighting days are over, but I’d appreciate the backup.” 

The crystal gem trio looked at each other with determined grins on their faces as Garnet said, “You don’t even need to ask. We’d do anything for Steven.” As they rushed into Prowl, Amethyst noticed that Jasper wasn’t moving. 

The orange quartz was standing still with lightly clenched fists. She turned her head away and quietly said, “I’ve… I’ve been trying not get into violent situations. My d- “Jasper briefly bit her tongue and cursed herself before continuing “Steven told me to find something better to do with my life. I want to help him but…” 

If Jazz could, he’d be smiling right now. The race car slowly drove up to Jasper and said, “We aren’t gonna force you to come with us if you don’t want to. But if you ask me, I think the kid’ll let this one rescue mission slide.” Jazz opened his passenger door and waited patiently for Jasper to make her decision. She thought deeply for a moment, nodded, and stepped into the passenger seat. “Glad to have you on board! If you don’t mind me asking, did you ever meet Steven’s dad?” 

“If you’re referring to Greg, I’ve seen him at Little Homeworld but I never engaged with him. Is he important to the mission?” Jasper asked. 

“Oh, It’s nothing like that! I was hoping to get an autograph from him. His music’s out of this world!”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always appreciated!!!


End file.
